Car-fender



(No Model.)

P. JONES. GAR FENDER.

Patented Mar AN DREW B.GRAHAM, PNOTO-UTHQWASHINUDN. DC

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PAUL JONES, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

CAR-FENDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 557,206, dated March31, 1896. Application filedDetember 20, 1895. Serial No. 572,788. on)model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

- Be it known that 1, PAUL JONES, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oar-Fenders, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to street-car fenders, and particularly to fendersfor cars propelled by electricity. Its object is to provide means bywhich the scoop, which in its normal position is held above the roadwayor tracks, is automatically tripped by a person or object coming infront of it and rapidly snapped down upon the tracks or roadway beforethe person or object is struck by the scoop or front of the fenderproper.

There are appliances in use which are automatically thrown down bystriking a person or object; but when the car is moving rapidly thelimbs of a person are liable to pass under the front end of the scoopbefore it can reach its lower position. In such case the fender israther an injury than a protection. The fender to be of any benefit mustreach its lowest position before the person is struck by it. I haveprovided means to hold the fender in the normal position above theroadway and tracks until its sustaining-support is released and means torelease it before the person can be struck by the fender. The means bywhich I attain these ends will be first fully described in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, and then particularly referred to andpointed out in the claims.

It will be easier to comprehend my invention if it is first understoodthat the fenderis held in its normal position by a detent projectingfrom an armature in proximity to the core of an electromagnet, whichmagnet is interposed in an open circuit, the circuit-wires of which tapthe main current, which supplies the current to the car-motor, and meansto automatically close the circuit through the electromaguet (which maybe any of the wellknown lifting-magnets) against spring-pressure byatripping device arranged in advance of the fender-frame or scoop.

Referring to the drawings, in which like parts are indicated by similarreference letters and numerals wherever they occur throughout thevarious views, Figure 1 is a perspective 'scoop 0.

view of the front end of a car provided with my improvements. Fig. 2 isan enlarged view, partly in vertical central longitudinal section 5 5and partly in side elevation, of the fender-sustaining device, thearmature, and the electromagnet. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of theremovable guard or shield to cover the frame which supports the fender.Fig. 4. is a detailed view of the means by which the motorman may throwup the armature or detentlever and release the fender.

Underneath the front platform A are secured upon each side brackets orhangers B, in the forward ends of which are boxes, in which boxes arefitted the vertical adjustable bearings 12, in which are journaled theends of the supports 0, upon which the fender-frame is hung. Thefender-frame consists of the vertical frame 0 and theforwardly-projecting The parts 0 and O are united by hinges in orderthatthe part 0 may fold up against the vertical frame 0 to economize spacewhen the car is put in the barn. D is a Y-shaped link, the forked endsof which are coupled to the rear of each of the side uprights of theframe 0. The rearwardly-extending end of the link is coupled to a lug e,which projects from a piston E through a longitudi- 8o nal slot in atube F, which tube is secured underneath the front platform A.

lVhen the fender is elevated to its normal position, the piston Eoccupies the position shown in Fig. 2. The piston is held in thisposition by a detent g, which projects from the hinged lever or armatureG through a slot in the upper side of the tube F. So long as the pistonis held in the forward end of the tube F the fender will remainelevated; but 0 so soon as the lever G is elevated to withdraw itsdetent 9 out of contact with the piston the coil-sprin gs H, which havetheir forward ends secured in eyes 0 in the rear of the upright frame 0and their rear ends hooked into lugs 5 Z) of the hangers B, will rapidlysnap the fender to its lowest position.

The electromagnet J has its core j secured firmly to the platform bybolts which pass through laterally-extending lugs 0r flanges j. Thespool J is sustained in position by a flange j The wire 1 of the magnettaps one of the wires which furnish the current to the magnet. The otherwire, 2, is connected to a preferably carbon blocks.

binding-post 0 which is in electrical connection with the contact-piece0 secured upon the face of an arm 0 which is secured to thefender-support c, the piece c being insulated from the binding-post. Acontinuation of the wire 2 is connected to a binding-post c, whichpasses through but is insulated from an anglearm of the spring-pressedlever c. This continuation, after passing through a fuse-box 3, istapped into the opposite wire of the motor. The contact-lever c ispivoted at 0 between a down wardly-extendin g arm from the fendersupport0 and one side of the fender-frame O and extends up back of the support0 and has a contact-piece a which comes opposite the contact-piece cThese contact-pieces are On the front of the vertical frame of thefender is secured a latch-spring c, which has an angle-arm which extendsover the pivoted lever c and normally holds the upper end of the leveragainst the inner side of the frame-support 0, thus separating thecontact-blocks c and c and holding the circuit open.

The side pieces of the frame 0 have upwardly-extending lugs c and 0Between the lugs are pivoted two arms 0 which pass between the lugs oand extend forward some distance beyond the front of the fenderframe.The front ends of these arms are provided with shoes 0 which slip overthe tracks or ground when the fender is snapped to its lower position.The arms 0 are held down upon the side frames and between the lugs c byflat springs 0 which are secured upon the side bars, and their free endsproject over the top of the arms 0 K is a wire, one end of which issecured at it to a pin passing through the forward end of one of thearms 0, and from that point it passes around a grooved pulley 7cjournaled in the opposite arm and from there extends up and is connectedto the lower end of the contact-lever c. It will be seen that if thewire K should strike anything on the track when the car is in motion itwill be deflected inward, rock the leverc on its pivot, and bring thecontact-blocks c and c together, thus closing the circuit through themagnet. The instant the circuit is closed through the magnet thearmature-block will be snapped against the core, drawing the detent 9out of contact with the piston E, when the springs II will throw thescoop to its lower position before the forward end of the fender wouldreach the object struck by the wire.

Should the motorlnan see a person on the track in front of the car intime, the fender may be thrown down by him without closing the circuitthrough the magnet. The means by which this is'accomplished isillustrated in Fig. 4 and consists of a bar N, pivoted in a hangersecured to the under side of the platform. A link from one end of thisbar is connected to the lever or armature G, and the opposite end of thebar N is provided with a rod which extends up through the floor of theplatform and has a head in convenient reach of the motormans foot. Bypressing this rod down the lever G will be elevated and the piston Ereleased.

The shield 0, Fig. 3, consists of a springmetal frame, the front 0 ofwhich is curved to present a rounding or convex surface. At its lowerend there is a return-bend forming the arms 0, which are braced by across bar or rod 0 The arms 0 have downturned hooks 0 at their tops toenter eyes a in the front of the dashboard, and also hooks 0 at theirlower ends to enter perforated lugs 19 which project forward from thehangers B. WVhen this guard is in position, it will furnish a yieldingcushion and prevent any one being injured by striking against the fenderor car-front.

It is obvious that the means for sustaining the fender in its normalposition against a force exerted to throw it to its lower position maybe varied to accommodate my invention to well-known fenders, and thatthe peculiar tripping mechanism, to be controlled by an electromagnetinfluenced by the current which controls the ear-motor, may also bevaried without departing from the spirit or scope of my invention; but Ihave shown the best means known to me of rapidly and automaticallythrowing the fender to its lower position before it strikes a person infront of it, and shall therefore consider all mere mechanical changesWhich accomplish the same result by equivalent means as within thespirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim is- 1. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore setforth, of the front platform, fender-supporting hangers secured thereto,the pivoted fender-frame supported by said hangers, means substantiallyas shown to sustain the fender in its elevated position against forceapplied to throw it to its lower position, an electromagnet in the mainor line circuit and tripping mechanism such as described, to close thecircuit, release the fendersustaining device and permit the fender todrop to its lowest position.

2. The combination of the front platform, the hangers secured thereunderat each side, the fender-frame pivoted in said hangers, the coil-springsconnected to the hangers and fender-frame and exerting their tension tothrow the fender to its lowest position, a support fitted to slide inguides secured underneath the ear-platform, a bar connecting saidsupport to the fender-frame, a lever having a detent to hold saidsupport in its forward position and the fender elevated, and means suchas shown actuated by the line-current to release the support and allowthe springs to snap the fender to its lower position, substantially asshown and described.

3. The combination of the front platform, the fender-frame pivoted inhangers secured to said platform, a guide secured underneath theplatform, a piston or follower fitted to slide in said guide, a linkconnecting said fol.-

IOC

IIO

lower to the pivoted fender-frame, a pivoted lever having a detent topass back of the follower and hold it in its forward position, the endof the lever extending rearwardly and having an armature under theinfluence of an eleetromagnet, an electromagnet secured underneath theplatform and in the circuit of the line-current, contact-surfacessecured to the fender-frame and held separated by springpressure, armson each side of the fenderscoop extending in front thereof, and a Wiresecured at one end to one of the arms passing around a pulley j ournaledin the opposite arm and having its opposite end connected to the movablecontact-surfaces, whereby pressure on the wire in front of the fendercloses the circuit through the magnet, retracts the detent and releasesthe fender-frame, substantially as shown and described.

PAUL JONES.

Witnesses:

GEO. J. MURRAY, EMMA LYFORD.

